Darrell Fitton is an electronic musician from Manchester, England. Most of his work is recorded under recording monikers Bola and Jello, released primarily on Skam Records. Fitton has also contributed to electronic acts D-Breeze, Brahma and Ooblo, and Autechre's Gescom project. Fitton was rumoured to have left the music industry in November 2007,[1] but he has recently stated his intention to release new music in 2013.[2]

Fitton loaned equipment to Autechre in their early days[3] and his first noteworthy involvement with electronic music was as assistant on their debut album Incunabula.[4] His own first electronic music release came in 1994, on Warp's now famous Artificial Intelligence II compilation. In 1995 he returned with the now more familiar Bola moniker, releasing the Bola 112" on Skam Records. The debut album as Bola, Soup, came in 1998 and was described as "an impressive synthesis of the machine-beat ambiance (sic) of post-techno with warm, wistful analog soul".[5] A rare set of 3 EPs called Shapes was released in 2000, pressed at only 300 copies; in September 2006, it was remastered and reissued in greater numbers by Skam, adding three bonus tracks.[6]

The latest Bola album, Kroungrine, was issued in 2007. There have been no further Bola releases since then, and the only musical output during this period was a remix of Ektoise's track "The Thought Police" and a live cut on Tympanik Audio's Emerging Organisms vol. 4 compilation. There have been occasional live performances, the most recent of which was in December 2012 at Adapter's Vertigo IV in Eindhoven.[7]

On 2 January 2013, Fitton addressed the rumours of his retirement, stating "I figure 5 years of relative inactivity is an adequate musical absence. New music will be produced and released this year."[8] As of January 2015, no new album has been released.

Albums released as Bola are generally titled in a way that forms a play on words with Bola, e.g. Soup (Bowl of Soup), Fyuti (Footballer), Gnayse (Bolognaise), Kroungrine (Crown Green Bowler),.

Fitton's blend of electronica, jazz-influenced keyboard parts and ambient soundscapes has been described as "equally informed by the expansive emotions of electronica together with sensible melodies and cinematic atmospheres."[9] "Bola travels in decidedly cinematic realms, crafting music that begs for emotional, tactile responses, ranging from sadness to fear to suspense," opined Tim DiGravina in a review of Fyuti for AllMusic. "All of this emotional manipulation is done through extended synth notes, pristine keyboards, and shimmering, otherworldly electronic elements."[10]

While frequently described as "cinematic",[11][12] Fitton's music has been noted as employing harsher, less accessible elements such as "austere synth textures and almost industrial-grade distortion".[13] "Bola's work needs time to work its magic," states the Electronic Music Guide. "A patient listener will be hugely rewarded".[14]